Any reviews of educator or education-related blogs will be posted and evaluated here. Whenever possible blogs will be posted by subject or category.

English/Langage Arts


The English Teacher Blog (an eNotes Community)

This blog is one part of an even larger community contributed to by English teachers and students. The hyperlink refers to a page edited by Carla Beard that introduces information about the National Day of Writing. In addition to Carla's blog there are also links to various literature lesson plans, literature guides, literary criticism, and eNotes on Shakespearian texts. The site is managed well and has a search option if you have difficulty finding what you seek.
Review by Rosa Frederick
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Two Teachers Writing (Blog)

This blog is created and maintained by two writing teachers, Ruth Ayres, a writing coach in Indiana and Stacey Shubitz, a writing teacher in Rhode Island. The blog usually speaks to the idea of living like writers and encourages writing every day. There are tools available on the site to assist with writing units including rubrics to use with students. They also have "challenges" that ask contributors to respond to a certain type of prompt. As the two women are authoring a book together, they also list their speaking engagements. This site is very narrowly focused; if you want a blog that encourages writing and spotlights a real world place for writing, this could be for you. If you are an educator that wants a blog about writing that encompasses a more rounded application to writing, you should probably continue looking.
Review by Rosa Frederick
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Social Studies World History Teachers Blog

This is a Blog created by a group of World Histoty teachers. The teachers post on the site speratically, sharing resources and lesson ideas. I really like this particular blog for the fact that the contributers post resources such as videos and primary sources. The discussions on this blog are current and ongoing.

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Reviewed by Chad Whitney

Math


Teachervision Blog

This is a blog written by Leah, a novice middle school math teacher. She makes weekly posts about the lessons she is covering and how they are going. She discusses specific problems they worked on and posts the actual problems so you can see exactly what she is talking about. As far as math blogs go, this is one of the better ones I have seen. I like the way she describes things, I can actually picture her class. The only down side is she has not posted to it since 2007. Although the discussions are not current, it is still an interesting blog to check out.

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Reviewed by Alison Driekonski



Science


Living in Dialogue blog

This is a blog created by a veteran, inner-city school teacher, Anthony Cody. After teaching science for 18 years, he is now part of team that coaches and mentors novice teachers. His blog is centered on discussing teaching reforms and how to teach for deeper understanding. Although some of the discussions are specific for teaching in California (where Anthony resides), many of the discussions are more general and can be of value to any educator. Not all of the posts are science based, but as a science teacher, Anthony does incorporate science in some of them.

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Reviewed by Alison Driekonski



Science Teacher Blog

This blog is created and maintained by Doyle, a New Jersey science teacher. He came to teaching after several different, interesting careers. I think this adds a lot his discussions because he often sees things from different points of view and he has had many different experiences to bring with him into the classroom. Although his discussions are not always purely educational, they are always insightful and thought provoking and he often ties things he sees in the classroom to other every day occurrences.
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Reviewed by Alison Driekonski


Technology


Weblogg-ed (Blog)

This blog is created and maintained by Will Richardson, the author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. In his blog, he discusses everything from lawsuits to implementing technology in the classroom. There are various other links on the site including: videos of Richardson speaking, an RSS guide (which I used to set up my RSS feed - very helpful), educator blogs, Richardson's PageFlakes page (so you can see what he's following), and a list of his upcoming speaking engagements. The site is very easy to navigate and is full of useful information for the average educator looking to spice up their technology toolbox.
Review by Rosa Frederick
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Educating the Digital Generation (Blog)
This is the blog of Paul Fuller, a 4th and 5th grade teacher in Western Australia. Paul is on the progressive front of eLearning in Australia and his blog showcases his innovative approach to integrating technology into the classroom. His blog entries cover a variety of topics including the promotion of new tools available on the web, and insightful reports about technologically rich activities he’s running in the classroom. One specific entry worth checking out is his post here about a cool free program called Wordle. But Paul Fuller’s site offers more than just a blog. Clicking on his Podcast link will access current and archived podcasts following his “Educating the Digital Generation” theme. With a global mindset, Paul can be found giving back to the global educational community through his contributions on Twitter, YouTube, Wikispaces, and Podkids Australia, to name a few; RSS feeds are available for all of the sites listed. This is truly an asset for any teacher looking to acquire a new blog that can help them generate a new list of ideas, sites, and tools for use in the classroom.

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Review by Michael Herron

The Innovative Educator
This blog is the brainchild of instructional technology specialist and literacy coach Lisa Nielsen. It was created as a place to "share information, ideas, and resources with other innovative educators as well as begin to grow a community interested in educating innovatively". The blog began in November of 2008 and is contributed to by the author on a regular basis. It offers many new and original approaches to integrating technology into the classroom such as student created books through LINTOR software, creating meaningful digital footprints through photo archiving, as well as tools that can be used to assess teacher integration of technology. In addition, it offers online technology tools to assist toiling students including ELL, Foreign Language and struggling readers. This blog is a definite winner and a must see for anyone interested in stretching their technological imagination.

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General Education


The Educator's Blog
This blog's mission is to cover education issues ,including but not limited to, teaching, leadership, curriculum, assessment, discipline, training, and technology. The blog began in 2006 and is the vision of Mark Karadimo, a 16 year educator. This blog offers insight into many aspects of the field of education and discusses everything from the importance of teacher appearance to distance learning. Interesting technological ideas discussed include a virtual charter school in Chicago. It also addresses and examines such controversial topics as gun control and it's connection to K-12 education. The vast majority of posts on this site are research based and offer great insight. Whenever the author offers an editorial and poignant and frank discussion of the topics addressed. The only downside to this blog is one that plagues many, blog maintenance. As time passes, the number of blog postings decreases. The last time the author made a contribution was November 1, 2008. Though it doesn't focus strictly on technology If you're looking for insight into hot button issues in education then this may be the blog for you.

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Teachers Count Blog

This is a national blog that began in 2007. It invites several teachers from different areas and backgrounds to share their thoughts, insights and experiences with the world of education. Some of them are relatively new to the field of education, with six or seven years in the classroom, while others have been teaching for 25+ years. Although one of the teachers has since retired, he has not left the field of education, and he continues sharing his experiences. This is a useful blog because the contributors come from a wide range of backgrounds and teaching situations. They raise issues that are interesting and thought provoking.

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Reviewed by Alison Driekonski